


Headless Peacocks

by silvered_glass



Series: Headless Peacocks [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Childcare, domestic drarry, drarry drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 08:59:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11145168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvered_glass/pseuds/silvered_glass
Summary: Teddy is a bit sad, but this is more an exploration of how Draco and Harry know each other. And about people with their own wounds learning how to care for others.





	Headless Peacocks

**Author's Note:**

> This is a tiny thing from tumblr that I wanted in one place.

A leaf blows in his face. It’s large and orange and a little spiky. As he grabs at it, the edge of the thing scratches his cheek which was already sensitive from the unseasonable chill in the air. But it’s the leaf blowing in his face which finally gets Teddy to laugh.

It’s been like this lately. Teddy silent and sullen. Harry filling in their outings with one-sided chatter and far too many treats. He looks down at Teddy, his giant ignored ice-cream dripping over his hand as the smile fades from his face too quickly.

Draco had suggested it was a phase, nothing for them all to worry about much. He’d been drinking red wine at the time, his lips stained darker then usual and a flush to his cheeks, he'd made a joke saying that Teddy was advanced for his age, _‘All the Black children are of course, he’s probably entering his sullen teens early.’_ But before they went to Andromeda’s for Sunday lunch the next week he’d gone out to Diagon and come home with half of Ron and George’s inventory as well as a Firebolt branded training broom from Quality Quidditch; all this with Teddy’s birthday two months past.

Teddy hasn’t even taken the broom around the garden yet.

So, Harry is looking down at Teddy, as his smile disappears too quickly and there is something in his young face in that moment which reminds him so much of Remus that Harry feels his chest almost ache with it. For the hundredth time, he wonders what is wrong. Harry reaches out and runs his hand over Teddy’s soft, light brown hair, and as he does, a tendril of a thought creeps into his mind and settles there accompanied by a sort of guilty dread.

All this time, and he’s just realised he hasn’t actually asked Teddy himself what is wrong. He tries to remember if Andromeda has actually mentioned if she’s asked him either. He knows she’s chatted with his teachers, but he can’t remember her saying that she’s asked Teddy directly. He’s sure if he asked Draco he’d say that he had. And he probably has, Harry thinks fondly, just in some sort of indirect and completely indecipherable to anyone else but Draco manner.

Harry brings the leaf back up to his cheek and pokes himself with it. He needs to talk to Teddy straight away. What an idiot he’s been.

“Teddy, come sit down a moment.” He says gently, even though he feels a little frantic, a little unsteady with his need to rectify things now. Now!

Harry takes what Hermione calls _‘Harrys-three-deep-breaths-he-promises-me-he’ll-take-before-following-a-trail-of-spiders-into-a-forbidden-forest-or-following-up-a-tip-off-on-a-case-without-backup'_  as he guides an unprotesting, but decidedly scuffing his shoes on the ground Teddy over to one of the benches that line Broadwalk.

When they sit down Harry takes the ice-cream from Teddy and mutters a quick _“Depulso”_ followed by a wiggle of his fingers over Teddy’s own and _“Tergeo.”_

Teddy shakes his no longer sticky hands and looks at them curiously, “Shouldn’t do magic in public Harry.” He whispers.

“That’s true Ted. But I didn’t touch my wand, just did it quick like.”

“Cousin Draco would say you’re a show off.”

Harry grins, “He would. That’s true.” Harry watches Teddy for a while. He wonders how long his hair has been that unchanging light brown for. He opens his mouth. And shuts it. He goes to run his other hand through his hair and he realises he still has the leaf in his hand. Again he pokes his cheek with it.

“Harry, are you going to make me go play on the pirate ship soon?” And. Well. The wording of that is _all_ wrong.

For some reason Harry’s heart is jumping round in his chest. He feels proper nervous. “Ted.” He starts. Deep breath, “What’s up mate. You seem very sad lately.”

Teddy slides off the seat so he’s just really leaning against it and starts skimming his foot back and forth across the pavement.

“Ted?”

Teddy turns and looks at Harry suddenly, “Can’t tell you.”

And he’s not sure why, but Harry holds up the giant London Plane Tree leaf in front of his face and says in a silly voice, “What about Mr Leaf-head? Can you tell Mr Leaf-head?”

 

x

 

When Draco steps out of the Floo the drawing room is empty, but interesting.

For starters, there is a half empty bottle of Firewhiskey on the original Finn Juhl Ash wood side-table, and next to that a lowball glass that is _not_ on a coaster. Which yes. That’s interesting. If interesting is another word for infuriating. But as well as the possible water damage to his fourth favourite item of furniture, there are some other items of interest.

Bags. Several bags dropped on the floor, Boots. Draco knows exactly what that is. A shop. Some type of a sort of Muggle shop. He thinks. Maybe.

He picks up the closest bag, it’s full of boxes. About six of them. Draco picks up the next bag. Same thing. Same thing, different colours. Then Draco remembers, Harry had Teddy this afternoon.

Draco twists his wrist and allows his wand drop down into his hand and spells the twenty tiny pearl buttons that run along from his collarbone down over the left side of his chest open. He shrugs off his robe, and with a highly unusual carelessness tosses it onto the sofa. He pauses only to pick up the bottle and take two quick swigs right from the neck, then he goes upstairs, loosening his shirt collar as he forces himself not to climb the stairs in a clattering rush.

He finds Harry in the bathroom on the second floor. He’s sitting on the closed toilet, reading a garishly coloured publication named _‘Beauty and Haircare Charms and Potions for Twitches and Twizards.’_ Something smells artificial and odd. And there is a lot of blue gunk all over the sink, the mirror and Harry’s hair.

Draco leans against the door frame and takes another swig. Harry looks up at him and his stupid lovely eyes look bloodshot.

“What in the name of Merlin’s most baggy ones is a Twitch?” 

Harry’s voice is a little rough, but he answers with a feeble attempt at his trademark crooked grin, “Apparently it’s an almost teenage witch.”

“Ah.” Draco nods.

“Teddy.” Harry says, gesturing towards the sink with a jut of his chin.

And Draco nods again.

“He…” Harry starts. But stops. “Draco…” He tries again.

Draco looks at the bottle. He has another sip and holds it out to Harry who grabs it and swigs.

“He’s been sad for how long do you think now?”

Draco rubs his lower lip between his thumb and index finger. “Not sure.”

“Before Christmas would you say?”

“I suppose. Months now. Six or so?”

“Yeah.” Harry sounds angry. He is looking at Draco again, eyes bright and hard. “Since the Christmas concert at his school maybe?”

Draco makes an uncommitted noise.

“We never asked him what was wrong. We all talked about him. We talked to other people. We tried to cajole him with treats, took him to every bloody fancy day out we could think of, for fucks sake Draco we went to Barry Island and you drove a dodgem car!”

“Yes. I went to Barry Island, I’m unlikely to forget. Give that bottle back.” Draco says drily, but it’s an imitation of his usual light sarcasm. The truth and the meaning of Harry’s words are washing over him.

“But we never asked him what was wrong.” Harry’s voice cracks a little.

Draco sips from the bottle again and feels heat climb up his face, rush down his neck to his stomach. It’s not just the whiskey. He could say he tried. He could tell Harry how he’d told Teddy the story about the dragon toy that Grandma Malfoy had crocheted for him and how upset he’d been when one of his father’s Crups had ripped it up and how his Mother had taken him out to show him a Peacock nest, nestled between some huge clumps of grass near a copse of trees and told him to watch the eggs…

However, Teddy hadn’t really seemed to understand what Draco had been saying and now he thinks about it, Draco isn’t sure himself. On reflection he’s not confident that the eminent birth of more annoying birds to parade around the grounds and try to peck him had been any comfort to his younger self either.

He’s been staring absently at the white tiles that line the wall by the bath, he glances to the mirror and meets Harry’s eyes in the reflection. He drops his gaze to that scar on Harry's chest. A scar that is still raised and pink against Harry’s brown skin even after all these years. Draco sucks in a shivering breath. Harry must have worked out that no one had asked Teddy what was making him so sad and just bloody gone and done it.

Draco can see it as clear as if a pensive memory; Harry suddenly realising that they’d all gone around like headless peacocks and not hesitating, for a moment, but instead needing instantly to put things right. Merlin, Draco hopes they hadn’t been on the merry-go-round near the entrance to the playground, Harry would have charmed the whole thing to a stop and caused some sort of statute breaking scene straight away.

He looks back up to meet Harry’s eyes again and feels something welling inside him. This galloping instinctive man that he’s grown to love so much, who himself is just a mess of loyalty and love and almost stupidly good-intentioned bravery.

He has no idea why Harry has bought a shops worth of muggle hair dye, or why he’s covered the bathroom and his own stupid unruly head in blue muck, especially when Draco can very quickly teach him some easy glamours to make his hair any colour he wants, but it’s all so Harry; Needing a practical solution to whatever problem he has found out about, and needing it straight away.

Fuck.

Draco crosses the floor in two quick steps and kneels between Harry’s legs, the bottle clinking on the tiles as he puts it down roughly, one hand tight on Harry’s warm solid forearm and one wrapping around Harry’s neck he pulls him in and kisses him hard and long.

 

.

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to say 'hi' I am @silveredglass on tumblr. I like chats and you.


End file.
